Erdogan’s plea for Syria masks his extermination of the Kurds

your say September 13, 2018 01:00

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Re: “The world must stop Assad”, Opinion & Analysis”, yesterday.

Surely a letter from Turkey’s president lecturing the world belongs in the comic section of any media outlet. Erdogan might lack certain personality traits, but you can bet he is not short of chutzpah.

While Assad is no Salvation Army nun and not even a legitimate ruler, Erdogan is probably the last leader on Earth who can claim the high moral ground over anyone.

Ever since he came to power Erdogan has been waging a vicious campaign against his country’s Kurdish minority, but given how media hypocrisy works you may not have read or heard about it much. Turkey’s army razes whole villages if one resident is suspected of being a PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) member. Erdogan’s air force has been bombing Kurdish villages in neighbouring Iraq, which holds a grudge against the Kurds and thus allows this flagrant violation of its sovereignty.

Erdogan’s sole interest in Syria’s war is trying to destroy the Kurdish presence there. What legitimacy do Turkish troops have for invading Syrian territory?

Erdogan has jailed hundreds of journalists for not following the official line of his ruling party. Hundreds of thousands lost their livelihoods – or worse, for similar reasons.

Let us also not ignore Turkey’s 44-year (and counting) occupation of Northern Cyprus with impunity. This crime was started by someone else, but the current Turkish regime is responsible for its continuation.